This proposal requests partial support for an international meeting on Insulin-like Growth Factors in Physiology and Disease as part of the Gordon Research Conference series, and will be held in Ventura, California during March 22 - 27, 2009, with subsequent meetings in 2011 and 2013. The Broad and Long-term Goals of the conference are to increase our understanding of the fundamental mechanisms controlling the actions of these proteins in human biology and disease. The Specific Aims of this meeting will be to convene 25 speakers who will represent critical areas of insulin-like growth factor (IGF) research with a total of 135 participants for a five-day conference in a relatively isolated setting. The program will have a keynote address and eight sessions, which will address current issues in IGF biology as they pertain to aging and age-related diseases, regenerative medicine, cancer (including tumorigenesis, cancer progression, and targeted therapeutics), cardiovascular biology (including control of vascular smooth muscle development and pathology, and regulation of myocardial hypertrophy), metabolic regulation (specifically signal transduction pathways controlling intermediary metabolism), and other aspects of the expression and function of IGFs, their receptors, and binding proteins in normal physiology and human disease. In addition, four afternoon poster sessions will permit all participants to contribute to these topics. The Significance of this application is that the Gordon Research Conference on Insulin-like Growth Factors in Physiology and Disease is a critical component of regular meetings that propels research in the international IGF scientific community. The Health Relatedness of this application is that discussions at this Gordon Research Conference will define key questions that require experimental resolution in areas that affect human development and aging, regeneration and repair of bone, skeletal muscle, and other tissues, cancer therapy, cardiac and vascular development and disease, and the control of glucose, fat, and amino metabolism in normal physiology and disease. The Health Relatedness of this application is that the cutting edge scientific discussions at this Gordon Research Conference will define the key questions that will require experimental resolution in areas of IGF research that affect human development and aging, the regeneration and repair of bone, skeletal muscle, and other tissues, cancer therapy, cardiac and vascular development and disease, and the control of glucose, fat, and amino acid metabolism. The results of these discussions will be to focus scientists on understanding normal physiological mechanisms of IGF action, on defining and understanding pathophysiological pathways, and on developing new therapies.